Suggestions for a Successful Membership Drive

Establish Goals. Determine, as a club or as a board, the number of new members you are to striving for. Provide incentives for present members for bringing new members.

Advertise. Make sure that for whatever format your club chooses to recruit new members that the entire student body is aware of it. Posters, flyers, table tents in the lunchroom, announcements, school newsletters, bulletin boards, electronic bulletin boards, and personal contact should all be used to get the word out about an upcoming Key Club recruitment event.

Be organized. Planning an informational membership event, regardless of whether or not it is a social or formal event, needs to be thorough and done well in advance. Involve your club officers and as many members as possible. Establish a timetable. Arrange for the facilities, refreshments, and all outside assistance.

Get help from outside sources. The club can contact the division’s lieutenant governor for ideas. Perhaps a district officer would be available to speak at the meeting.

Arrange for transportation. This is probably the most overlooked aspect of membership. Assign upperclassmen to a transportation committee to provide transportation for those students who have difficulty making meetings and projects outside of school hours.

Invite students to join . After the informational aspects of your membership event are completed, present a membership application to each prospect. Avoid high-pressured salesmanship, but make sure you do ask all prospect to join the club. Follow up on all prospects and access from their responses how successful your events/meetings have been in recruitment.

Assign duties to new members. Students who join the club should be formally inducted at an installation meeting. They should be assigned specific duties within the club immediately. It is important for new members to feel useful and needed. Don’t over do it, though, as you don’t want your new members to experience burn-out.

The club structure. All members, new and old, should know exactly how they fit into the club’s structure. All members are important - all should be involved in committees and projects that rely on their participation. The viability of the club depends on the involvement of the total membership, and it’s best to start new members out right.